Air Manis Beach, Sumatra, Indonesia

4byyap 5:00 PM Dec 14, 2011

Great place to get your feet wet diving and surfing!
We were in Padang for 4 days recently. We took a package which comprised 5 dives and a day of surfing. It was a full board package including the accommodation. We took the early morning flight from Kuala Lumpur. Padang is only an hour away from KL but the 1 hour time difference means you arrive at practically the same time you left. We were greeted by our friendly local agent Bob Effendi and his wife Dewi who whisked us off to our accommodation at Nature Inn. The dive equipment area is built into the side of the house so it is super convenient for divers to unload their gear or arrange for the rentals. After an early morning brunch of noodles we left for our dive trip. It was a 45 minute ride from the jetty by speed boat to arrive at a little island with waves lapping on the shore. The boat is not a dive boat and the assembled gear is laid out on the floor of the boat at the back. However I understand that there are plans to upgrade and include the purpose built area to stand up the tanks and gear. The diving there is pretty much like the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia like Tioman or Redang. Visibility was so so. However we practically had to ocean to ourselves, and we never saw any other divers during our 2 days diving there. The highlight was dolphin sightings on both days. Both days we saw a relatively small school who shied away from the boat though we are told by Bob that bigger schools are friendlier and do come nearer. Even then it was such a beautiful sight to watch them jumping and leaping out of the water. Wow! That really made my day! Once the boat goes out we will not return to the mainland till all the diving is done. Lunch is either onboard or on one of the deserted islands around. In between dives they give out the sweetest pineapples. Nice! There is also drinking water and dry towels for our use. We all tried our hand at surfing on the last day. We went to Air Manis beach which has waves just the right size/height to learn – anything bigger and we would have be swamped! Bob is a patient teacher and went to each of us one by one. By the end of the morning my friend Huey Teng could surf all the way to the shore. It was definitely an experience not to be missed. Meals in Padang is really something else. Bob and Dewi act more like friendly hosts and bring us around to try the delicious Padang food. Don’t leave Padang without trying the pork satay, the authentic Nasi Padang or the local fresh orange juices. Also be prepared for really spicy food. Being Malaysians we were all used to it, but this is not Bali with the multitude of international tourists. Some places they don’t even serve canned drinks & all drinks are made on the spot. Go for the diving, stay for the surfing!

3Juef_12 5:00 PM Feb 28, 2012

Story of malin Kundang
The story of malin kundang is really interesting only beach is dirty